The Czech Centre in approved cooperation with the City Gallery of Bratislava, after last-year’s successful monographic exhibition of Josef Váchal – a personality of the Czech avant-garde of the first half of the twentieth century, comes this summer with a not less tempting offer of an exhibition of graphic prints by Vladimír Boudník –undoubtedly the most important personality of the Czech post-war abstract art.

The life, view at art and the artistic production of Vladimír Boudník create a unity which can not be found by any other Czech artist. Innovation of graphic techniques like active or structural graphics, partial destruction of format and of the structure of paper and use of unusual liquids in photographic works equals opening of a new chapter in the history of art. Also the influence he had on young artists in the end of the fifties and in the beginning of the sixties of the 20th century was enormous. Also in the contemporary production of many artists we can find traces of his way of thinking which is comparable with a similar thoughts system which was created only a few years later by Joseph Beuys.

Only a few friends - mainly from his professional surroundings – he convinced with his progressive idea of explosionalism, that art is part of our living and every one of us is in his/her substance a creative personality and only the surrounding circumstances as well as our over the top respect for art itself hinders us to understand the principles of art, even in our own artistic execution. Boudník was in his time in Czechoslovakia the only one who was working with public in terms of a program. Not regularly but often he had been going among people on streets so that on the base of structures found on bashed, dirty and wet Prague’s facades he could teach them to see the beauty of abstract shapes and recognise in them the power of their own creativity. In this way he went to the terrain more than 200 times. The spectator should not be only a passive witness of his/her surroundings but to be a free, creative individual who finds inspiration immediately around him/herself. Inspiration, which would push him/her to his/her own creativity. Art as part of life and a human as a creative individual - up to a certain extent, even now are still too radical thoughts for the periods but also for the contemporary society.

From the half of the 50ies of the 20th century Boudník systematically started working on abstract pictures. They are all works on paper, their quality colour –scheme and formal persuasion make them the most radical what was created in those times in Czechoslovakia. Vladimír Boudník created and realised active, magnetic and structural graphics, did artistic experimenting with Rorschach’s tests and worked also with photography.

Today we hardly can imagine which art-historical importance would be attributed to Boudník when he would have been living in a free world. What we can do for him today is to continue looking for a view on his original work and repeat what was said already many times: Vladimír Boudník belongs with his work – created in the right time in a wrong place – to the most important artists of our times. To his inclusion into the European context is also needed art-historical work mainly from the (in those times) western European side.

The exhibition which will be accessible in Mirbach’s Palace on the Františkánske Square from 29 June until 10 September will introduce the active and structural graphics from the 50ies and 60ies of the 20th century, monotypes and unknown photographic creation in until the most complex form.

The photographs of works of art, promoting the exhibitions held at the City Gallery of Bratislava, published on the website, are subject to copyright protection under the Copyright Act. The City Gallery of Bratislava is not a copyright holder; it is the artist, or his/her heirs. The work of art becomes free more than 70 years after author´s death. The photographs of works of art published on the website can only be used with the prior written consent of the artist, his/her heir, or institution representing artist´s rights, otherwise it shall be regarded as copyright infringement.